Maple-Dijon Glaze

Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of a small saucepan. Heat over medium. Add approximately 1 1/2-2 cloves chopped garlic and 1 chopped shallot (I used both from jars last night). Cook 60 seconds or so, until fragrant. Add 2-3 tablespoons of dijon mustard and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. Whisk to combine. Add 1 cup broth and a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of honey (optional- depends on your maple syrup). Bring to a boil and reduce to the thickness of your choice.

I can not stress enough how easy and versatile this one is!! Last night, I made this as a thin glaze. You could keep cooking it down to a thicker sauce. You could also make it a basting sauce for baking or grilling. I used it on sauteed chicken (seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper and Italian spices) and onions but you could also make this for pork or shellfish. I don’t think its strong enough to stand up to beef but it would also work on some fish, especially salmon.

Buttermilk Chicken

Over the weekend we went up to St. Helen for some campfire action with some friends. Chris went out four-wheeling with the guys. He returned covered in dust and keenly aware of some muscles he didn’t even know he had. I went shopping at the outlet mall in West Branch and returned with new-found appreciation of the messenger bag-style purse I bought in Puerto Rico. (note: did not intend to shop like that but we had to go in to town for internet access so I could post my homework- all in the name of good grades!)

Before we left on Friday, I tossed a few things in a cooler that I knew we’d need to use up. One of those things was the remaining jug of buttermilk. I also mixed up the spices and salt in a plastic bag, guessing on amounts since I didn’t think I needed to be precise. Saturday morning, I mixed the marinade up and marinated the chicken from 11 AM to 7:30 PM. Here is what I have discovered: you can do this marinade for 30 minutes or 30 hours (or even 48 hours) and it will still come out perfect! No panko crumbs to be found at the West Branch Wally World so I used some Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in the cupboard at the trouse (combo trailer-house, use your imagination). As a result, the breading was a little saltier than I prefer but everyone else loved it.